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THE TWO (COOLING) TOWERS — UTILITY CEOS MEETS WITH McCARTHY ON EMISSIONS, COOLING TOWER RULES: Representatives from the Edison Electric Institute and utility CEOs met with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy yesterday to lay out industry concerns about two forthcoming proposed rules, according to an EEI official who was at the meeting. The CEOs got face time to discuss the carbon emissions rule for new power plants — a regulation critics say would essentially stop all new coal and will set the stage for a rule for existing power plants as well — as well as the so-called 316(b) cooling tower rule, both of which are due to be released in the near future. The official said it seems that EPA is working on some of the major problems with the emissions rule flagged over the original version that came out in 2012 and was replaced with the version now being reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget.

— Besides emissions limits they fear could be too stringent for coal, the CEOs also reiterated that EPA shouldn’t require carbon capture and storage technology, which is not yet commercially viable. Attendees also told McCarthy her agency needs to properly consider excess emissions released at natural gas plants during start-up and shutdown processes, the EEI official told ME.

Speaking of the emissions rule for new power plants: The American Public Power Association on Wednesday urged the Obama administration to set emissions standards at levels coal plants can currently meet, not via CCS. Your morning host has more: http://politico.pro/1ejHRUY

WELCOME TO RIVENDELL, FRODO BAGGINS — or at least, welcome to a special “Lord of the Rings”-themed edition of Morning Energy. Take the ring to Mordor, but send your energy news to aguillen@politico.com, and follow on Twitter the whole Pro Energy fellowship: http://bit.ly/Qad8Rb

BUCKLEBURY FERRY WAS ALSO HIT WITH PENALTIES: Shell will pay $1.1 million in penalties to EPA to settle Clean Air Act permit violations from their oil and gas exploration in the Arctic. The majority of the penalty comes from violations aboard Shell's Discoverer vessel while in the Chukchi Sea, while the rest is comes from violations on the Kulluk drilling rig, which was damaged after running aground earlier this year, in the Beaufort Sea. The Kulluk issue and other missteps have kept Shell from drilling again this year. “For 2012 operations offshore Alaska, Shell accepted stringent emission limits that were based on assumptions and modeling,” Shell spokesman Curtis Smith told ME. “Following a season of operations, we now better understand how emissions control equipment actually functions in Arctic conditions.” He added that Shell did not exceed its overall allowable emissions for the year and that the emissions did not have a negative impact on nearby residents. Consent agreements for the Discoverer: http://1.usa.gov/13lIZ5U and Kulluk: http://1.usa.gov/UVwf3V

MEANWHILE, ME STILL DOESN’T GET WHY THEY DIDN’T JUST FLY ON THE EAGLES: The Energy Department has sold off its loan to the shuttered Vehicle Production Group, losing about $42 million in total on the original loan. DOE sold the outstanding $45 million debt to AM General, an Indiana-based auto manufacturer known for creating Hummers and Humvees, for $3 million. DOE will recoup $8 million of its original $50 million loan — a figure that includes the $5 million VPG paid down earlier this year after the company ceased operations. “After exhausting any realistic possibility for a sale that might have protected our entire investment, the Department determined that auctioning the remainder of VPG’s loan obligation offered the best possible recovery for the taxpayer,” DOE spokesman Bill Gibbons said.

A JOURNEY TO THE NORTH: Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Ron Wyden is in North Dakota today and tomorrow for a visit to the state's bustling oil and gas region alongside Sen. John Hoeven. The Oregon Democrat's agenda today includes a visit to an ethanol biorefinery, a tour of a tour of a Whiting oil rig and fracking site, a visit to a gas plant and a roundtable discussion with the Bakken community. Tomorrow, Wyden and Hoeven hop around a "man-camp" to see infrastructure growth.

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HARD TO FOIA MESSAGES SENT VIA THE STONE OF ORTHANC: Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) alleged Thursday that outgoing FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff was influenced by politics when he insisted in 2010 that the Obama administration can mitigate any reduction in electricity generation caused by EPA regulations. But the senator, the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, offered scant evidence to support the allegation. Andrew Restuccia has more for Pros: http://politico.pro/1aSPuln

IN TODAY’S FEDERAL REGISTER — TREASURY PROPOSES RESTORE ACT RULE: The Treasury Department is publishing its proposed rule governing procedures under the RESTORE Act, which funnels most of the administrative and civil penalties paid in connection with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster to Gulf Coast states, the federal Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council and other entities. From the proposed rule: “Overseeing compliance will be a responsibility resting primarily with the Federal and State entities which administer grants for the programs, projects, and activities funded under the Act. Treasury will carry out an important and supplemental role in overseeing the States’ compliance with requirements in the Comprehensive Plan Component and the Spill Impact Component.” Public comments on the 54-page rule are due within 60 days. The document: http://bit.ly/17I8eiu

BP, FEDS BATTLE IN COURT OVER SPILL ESTIMATES: Via the AP: “With a high-stakes trial set to resume in less than a month, BP and the federal government on Thursday offered conflicting estimates of how much oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico after the blowout of the company's Macondo well triggered a deadly explosion. In a court filing, BP urges U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier to use an estimate of 2.45 million barrels, or nearly 103 million gallons, in calculating any Clean Water Act fines. Justice Department experts estimate that around 4.2 million barrels, or approximately 176 million gallons, spilled into the water before BP sealed its well 86 days after the April 20, 2010, blowout.” AP: http://bit.ly/1dL7rn8

NO COMMENT FROM THE MINES OF MORIA: Sen. Jay Rockefeller called the White House on Wednesday to urge reviewers there to speed up a review of a coal dust rule aimed at preventing black lung, the West Virginia Democrat said at a roundtable discussion in his home state yesterday. “No one has to get black lung disease. It is not inevitable,” he said. “And it is well past time we relegate this terrible disease to the archives of history.” There were reportedly 9,600 coal miner deaths nationwide between 1996 and 2005. AP has more: http://bit.ly/18GR8Az

YOU SHALL NOT PASS… THROUGH CUSTOMS: Solar manufacturer SolarWorld, which last year got the Commerce Department to slap tariffs of 31 percent to 250 percent on photovoltaic imports from China, isn’t happy with how things turned out — and it’s taking its beef to the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York. In recent court filings, SolarWorld argues that several Chinese manufacturers failed to disclose their owners to show they are free of control by the Chinese government. The companies thus nabbed lower tariff rates and should be subject to higher rates, SolarWorld says. The company also complained that Commerce undervalues some aluminum frames used in making Chinese panels. SolarWorld’s court filing: http://politico.pro/14nFONZ

— The energy industry is looking for people with high math and science aptitudes, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson writes in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on education issues: http://on.wsj.com/1636eCN

THAT’S ALL FOR ME. Sam, I’m glad you’re with me.

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